1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a device with which to embed a sensor in a subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been proposed methods which involve irradiating a biological body with light from outside of a biological body, and detecting reflected light or transmitted light therefrom/therethrough in order to measure the concentration of an analyte, e.g., glucose.
For example, microparticles that contain a reagent whose fluorescence property changes through reaction with glucose may be embedded as sensors in the upper layer of the skin, and the microparticle sensors may be irradiated with light from outside of the biological body in order to transdermally detect fluorescence occurring from the microparticle sensors. A method which measures glucose concentration in this manner is disclosed in International Publication No. 2002/030275.
Moreover, a method has been proposed in which a sensor having a sensing region on its surface is embedded in a biological body, and glucose concentration is monitored by utilizing surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy or other surface-enhanced spectral sensitization techniques (J. M. Yuen, N. C. Shah et. al., Anal. Chem. (2010)82, 8382-8385).
In order to embody a method of embedding a sensor in the skin, an injection device has been proposed which elevates or depresses a part of the skin, and injects a substance to be injected at a predetermined position and depth (International Publication No. 2003/072172).